Hyundai Motor Q1 net profit halves, misses estimates

SEOUL, April 26 (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor said on Thursday that its first-quarter net profit had halved from a year ago, falling significantly short of estimates, as a persistent weakness in U.S. and China sales offset stronger business at home.

Hyundai, which together with affiliate Kia Motors is the world's No.5 automaker, reported a quarterly net profit of 668 billion won ($619.15 million), versus 1.3 trillion won a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had on average expected a net profit of 1 trillion won.

Hyundai posted an operating profit of 681 billion won and sales of 22.44 trillion won for the January-to-March quarter. ($1 = 1,078.9000 won) (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Himani Sarkar)